The End Of Him
by Dragonfly and K-chan
Summary: a failed mission. A few of the Nin go on a mission to retrieve a stolen item, death awaits most of them...will Gaara die? or will Naruto? please R&R ! Dragonfly.


A/N: I'm soooooooo evil!why god, why does Gaara have to be in a dying state? cries oh well… I'll live, he's still alive in my other fics… Poor poor Lee. Oh well please read R&R!

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Blood dripped from his side like a cracked bucket as Gaara hobbled through the forest. His light turquoise eyes shut with a wince every time he took a step; his leg was broken. His mind was on other things, however; the ever-increasing pain and the dizziness of the blood loss didn't affect his racing mind. He had one thing on his mind, and not even the threat of death would stop him until he did what he wanted.

To save the Uzumaki

It had been a simple mission between the two countries; bring back a sacred item that had long since been stolen. But it was under ranked by far. It turned out that the keepers of the item were none other than Akatsuki. Unknowingly, they had walked right into the base. Several Nin were already dead, the ones he knew had been hurt the most, as he had looked around at their dead or dying faces as he hurried past. The only problem had been that he knew them all.

He stopped as a bird broke through the foliage up ahead, ca-cawing as it went. He frowned as he watched it break through the canopy of the treetops. He had a sudden mental flashback of when he had come upon Lee. Lee had been laying there bleeding to death from where one of his arms had been ripped off, and his side had had a big gash in it. Gaara had furiously tried to stop the flow of blood, but had been forced to watch as Lee's life flowed out of him. Gai would've said that Lee had taken it like a man, smiling and talking in a voice so hoarse that he had already sounded dead.

"Gaara," he had croaked. "There's still time, time to save the others. I know you can do it; I couldn't but you can." At that point he had coughed up blood; his once green suit was a deep red. Gaara's eyes had welled up with tears; so much blood, why wouldn't it stop?

"Don't…don't talk that way Lee, you can still make it," Gaara had pleaded.

"Don't be stupid friend." Gaara had frozen at that word, that sacred word: 'friend'. No one had ever called him friend, only Naruto. "Look at me; I'm covered head to toe in my own blood. My whole left arm is missing, and… I've got a gash on my left side that goes all the way to my lung. I'm dying dear friend. And I'm going to die. Stay youthful. But please, tell Gai-sensei I'm sorry. And…" he stopped, coughing up more blood.

"And what Lee, what?" He had nearly shrieked, roughly shaking his dying friend, not wanting to be left alone.

"Tell Sakura-chan I love her, and that she should always stays happy. Please, please," Lee begged, eyes welling up with tears.

"But she's… I will Lee, I will," Gaara said, biting back the tears.

"Thanks. And tell my teammates that I'm sorry, and that Tenten shouldn't get angry for failing another mission, and that I'm sorry to Neji for not being able to fight him again."

"Okay," Gaara said, a single tear falling as Lee's eyes started to haze over.

"Stay youthful my friend, youthf-" Lee eyes glazed over, and his body became limp in Gaara's arms.

Gaara had been unable to tell his newfound and new-lost friend that he had found Sakura dying back in the trees. He remembered her clearly. Deidara had gotten a hold of her and done quite a bit of damage to her with his explosives. She had told him the story of the team getting split up and the Akatsuki members attacking. Then her last words had been to tell Naruto that she was sorry for being a burden, and to tell Lee that she was sorry. He didn't know what she had been sorry for, she hadn't got to finish. She never would. But he knew what Lee had been trying to say.

Another bird taking flight awoke him from his daze. He continued on, holding his aching side as he walked. He _would_ save Naruto-kun; the Uzumaki had so much to live for. He wouldn't fail; he knew with a sense of dread that this would be his last mission.

He had been a good Kazekage. Protecting the people from that bomb had taken a lot of strength and courage; after all he had hated them. But after the Chiyo-baa-sama had brought him back to life, he had found that he was loved by his people. But he would never think of them as friends. No, the word 'friend' was reserved in his dictionary for only the people who had really proved themselves...

He looked up as he heard the clash of kunai and a explosion. He frowned; the man responsible for his death was up ahead. He grit his teeth as he started forward with a determined look on his face._ They will pay; for everything. _The lives they took, the death of his friend, his death, daring to trick them…so many things he couldn't list. They would pay for the things they had done to become the dirty traitors they were today.

Behind him, a path of blood followed back to the setting sun; it was blood red. He smiled slightly as he looked once again up into the sky, bathed in red light. Blood would be spilt.

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(K-Chan: Oh my god…this made me cry!D: Especially when I read Lee's part. Basically, since I can't review this story the normal way, I have to do it like this (also did some editing). This is so sad- poor Gaara!)


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